Stargate: SG 20, Episode 1
by albert12
Summary: Five years after the events of Continuum, the galaxy seems to be at peace. However, a new threat has appeared, and a new Stargate team must rise to meet the challenge. OCs, but with plenty of canon characters thrown in. NOW COMPLETE!
1. Chapter 1

Summary: Five years after the events of Continuum, the galaxy seems to be at peace. However, a new threat has appeared, and a new Stargate team must rise to meet the challenge. OCs, but with plenty of canon characters thrown in.

Author's note: This story takes place several (5-ish) years after the end of Stargate: Continuum. The galaxy now _relatively_ at peace, and, on earth, the Stargate program has finally been declassified. The now-famous SG-1 has semi-retired. However, as we will soon see, things are not destined to remain peaceful…

**SG-20**

**Episode 1**

"**Flash Drive"**

The day was quiet. The twin suns shone overhead, together giving light and heat to their faraway companion.

That light was currently irritating the members of SG-13, who were striding through the middle of an abandoned village complex. The massive Navaho-style city was built right into the side of a mountain, hundreds of feet above the fertile riverbed below. A single drawbridge connected it across a deep chasm to the stone stairwell which represented the only access to the city.

Two men in SGC uniforms were plodding through the dust of the village street, or (more accurately) the roofs of the houses below them. Their feet kicked up clouds of strange silver dust that had seemingly accumulated all over the village.

"It's strange. It's like they picked up and left, leaving almost everything behind." Daniel Wayland declared. He was a civilian archeologist who had joined the Stargate program a month ago, and was constantly being confused with Daniel Jackson, SG-1fs civilian archeologist. Thus, most people had taken to referring to him by his hated middle name, Charles.

"Maybe something scarred them away?" Mike, the team leader, said. He was a middle-aged man, with prematurely-grey hair. His aged appearance hid the fact he was a Navy SEAL-one of the U.S. Navy's most elite group of warriors. He had been re-assigned to Stargate Command shortly after the Stargate program had been declassified. "Maybe it was whatever caused this strange dust."

"Possibly, but I don't think they left to get away from something- there aren't any signs of a panicked exit. It's more like they just dropped what they were doing and left." Charles responded. "They didn't even take their weapons." He added, picking up a battered-looking staff weapon. "Frankly, I don't know what to make of it. Back on earth, the Navaho weren't a migratory culture."

After a long pause that consisted mainly of Charles studying the staff weapon and trying to figure out what an Indian tribe was doing with a Goa'ould weapon, and Mike trying to hum Zack Brown's "Chicken Fried" quite unsuccessfully, Mike finally broke the bored silence.

"Maybe Megan will have found something by now."

"Maybe." Charles said, dropping the staff weapon. A cloud of silver dust erupted where it hit the ground.

It wasn't very far to the large patio where the team's scientist had began setting up her equipment and politely informed the other two members of SG-13 team to "bug off". However, as they rounded a corner to find a very strange sight- Megan was kneeling in the middle of the patio, with her scientific equipment scattered about, her scanning device hanging in her hands, almost forgotten, as though in a trance.

Directly in front of her stood a tall woman with blond hair. An energy ribbon erupted from the woman's outstretched hand, striking Megan's forehead. Rather than a Goa'ould hand device, however, the beam seemed to be coming from a complex vine tattoo that ran down her arm.

Even as he reached for his weapon, Charles noticed that the strange woman was the most attractive he had ever seen. She was tall, slender, and extremely graceful. He also realized that she wasn't human- her ears swept back to a elegant point, and her eyes were a startling bright purple. She was wearing a loose-fitting pair of pants and an overly tight sleeveless shirt of some sort, with an extremely low collar that displayed another vine tattoo encircling her neck. A white rod was clipped in a quiver-like holster on her back.

"HEY!" Mike yelled, cutting through Charles's thoughts and bringing him back to the reality of the situation- an alien was attacking one of their teammates with a unknown device.

The strange girl spun to face them. With amazing speed, her hand went to the white rod on her back. She had it un-cliped and pointed at the two humans almost faster than Mike could see. Instinctively, he recognized it as a weapon, and his own P-90 came up, safety off and ready to fire.

_Greetings, explorers from Earth. I welcome you to my world._ A voice seemed to speak.

"Who are you?" Mike demanded.

_I am Elairia, watcher of this world. I welcome you in peace. There is no need for your weapon._

Charles felt a tingling feeling starting in the back of his mind, like a wave of static. Even as he tried to pull his gun from its holster, a tide of calm flooded over him. He let his hand drop, and the gun fell from his fingers, sending up a cloud of silver dust when it hit the ground.

Mike, too, felt suddenly calm, but he fought it. He forced his fingers to tighten around his rifle, forced his arms to raise it again.

Finding his voice, he demanded "Then why are you pointing one at me?"

_Your mind is strong. You are a great warrior among your people._

The calmness intensified. Every fiber of his being cried out to him to lower the weapon. After a moment's struggle, he brought it to his shoulder again.

This time, he pulled the trigger.

An explosion of bullets resulted as the weapon spat out fifty armor-piercing rounds in two seconds, a hail of fire that would have pierced half an inch of armor plate and brought down any living creature in the galaxy.

Not one of them touched. A fraction of a second before he pulled the trigger, an energy shield blossomed into existence from the end of her weapon, protecting the alien woman.

A focused wave of static filled his mind, clouding his thoughts. Mike lowered the now-useless weapon, not even able to reach for a second clip.

The alien strode calmly forward, reaching her right hand toward his head. The leaf tattoo on her palm pulsed in its own inner light as she ran it over his head. Intense pain suddenly cleared his mind, but froze his body. However, even this strange respite ended as the pain was dragged away, and the clouding calm returned. She lowered her hand.

_Your mind is strong, but overly simple. Unlike the other two, it would be of little use to me._

The calm abruptly ended. Then a powerful blast of energy lifted him from his feet, flinging him into the wall. He hit the ground hard, and his mind fled the waking world.

*************************************************

Author's note: Well, that's the beginning chapter. The heroes of this series of will be making their appearance in the next chapter.

Those of you who know weapons are probably screaming at me that a P-90 can't penetrate half an inch of armor plate, even with armor-piercing rounds. For that little inaccuracy, I plead poetic license.

For those of you who are wondering about what a Navy officer is doing at an Air force base, I figured it this way: if the Stargate program has been declassified, it is no longer a purely Air force operation- both Army and Navy, as well as civilian elements, would be represented.

Reviews are extremely appreciated, by both me and my finicky muse. I love hearing what everyone thinks of my writing, even if it's just "Nice story, I enjoyed it." or something like that.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's note: Well, it took me a LOT longer to write this chapter than I had expected. I had hoped to have it done in a little over a week, and it's been more like a month. However, my muse finaly came back yesterday enough to finish the final little bit of editing.

On a side note, I watched the SG:Universe pilot episode. I didn't think two much of it. Most of the characters were semi-borrowed from other stories, and the plot really lacked any real strength. A lot of it was clearly borrowed from the new Battlestar Galactica, rather than doing their own thing.

**SG-20**

**Episode 1: Chapter 2**

"**Flash Drive"**

*************************************************

The great ring of the Stargate spun, releasing a wave of energy. Only seconds after the wave had vanished, returning into the calm ripples of the event horizon, SG-20 stepped through.

The first person through the Stargate was Major Jason Terrell, the team leader. He was a young Marine who had been on the Stargate program almost since the beginning. He had been promoted only a few weeks ago, and been assigned to command SG-20.

Immediately behind him was the massive form of Ka'cha'nay, the team's "Weapons Expert". He was a Unas tribal warrior, a member of a race of primitive reptilian aliens. The huge alien had been kicked out of his tribe several years ago, and, after wandering through the galaxy for a time, he had joined the SGC. He was, despite his primitive looks, an intelligent and deadly warrior with a near-photographic memory. His name was somewhat difficult for humans to pronounce, so most of his friends referred to him as " 'Nay ".

The third person to step through the gate was Christine Ralston, the team's civilian scientist. She was a kind, attractive girl of about twenty-five, and a brilliant astrophysicist. Although she was carrying a P-90, she was not much of a warrior.

"Look clear." Ka'cha'nay, for all his ability as a warrior, still wasn't good with the English language. He could remember exact rifle calibers and ammunition specifics, but he routinely forgot 'unimportant' words like "it", "and", and "was".

"I agree," Jason said. "What was SG-13's last reported position?"

"Them were investing a village on a mountain near the stargate last time they call." The alien stated.

"Um...'Nay, the word he used was 'investigating', not 'investing'." Christine said.

"We've got an SG team to find, people! Let's get moving!" Jason barked, " 'Nay, you take point, I'll bring up the rear."

"Aye." Ka'cha'nay stated, unslinging his grenade launcher and plunging off into the brush.

The trek to the village turned out to be far more difficult than they had anticipated. At first, they were traveling through dense thickets, where branches did their best to slap them, clobber them, trip them, or (on more than one occasion) snatch items right out of their hands. After retrieving Christine's portable scanner from a surprisingly tall branch for the twentieth time, Ka'cha'nay handed her the scanner and informed her "Next time, tree can keep!"

Then, suddenly, the thickets cleared, the trees came to an abrupt end, and they found themselves walking through a forest of dead tree trunks, all around which patches of corn, sunflowers, beans, and various other crops grew.

A huge mountain loomed in front of them, marking edge of the river valley. Clinging to a shoulder of the mountain was a massive, navho-like cliff city, which seemed to sparkle silver in the sunlight.

However, it was another hour's hard travel across muddy fields and them climbing a steep, rocky path up the mountainside before they reached the reached the foot of the crude drawbridge that lead into the city. It was there the trouble began.

The bridge was a set of simple wooden planks, roped together and slung across a hundred-foot deep chasm in the mountainside. The rough-hewn and half-rotten boards showed the promise of giving way if anyone were to step the wrong place.

Christine and Jason managed to cross with little trouble, but the aged decking began making ominous noises the instant Ka'cha'nay set foot on it. He proceeded carefully, but, halfway across, a board gave out under his feet. Fortunately, the alien had a quick reaction speed, and was able to pull himself to safety. He traversed the rest of the bridge far more carefully, and managed to reach the far end without further indecent.

"Bridge dangerous." he stated simply.

"Did anyone else notice that it smells like someone just set off a firework?" Jason asked.

"I smell it," Christine said. "Smells more like gunpowder."

"Maybe it's that strange dust SG-13 reported?"

"Possibly, but I don't think-"

"Who said 'help'?" Ka'cha'nay asked.

Christine and Jason exchanged a startled glance. "Nether of us said it." Jason stated.

"What did it sound like?" Christine asked. She had learned long ago that the Unas's sense of hearing was extremely acute- to the point of being able to warn them of an impending ambush by the Lucan Alliance forces because he heard the slight hum produced by an armed staff weapon.

"A human said 'help' like it was hurt."

"Where?"

Ka'cha'nay turned and pointed towards the main bulk of the city. "Somewhere in there."

The shout came again, this time just loud enough for the humans to hear.

Which was all the motivation Jason needed. If the SG team they were sent to find was in trouble, he wasn't going to waste time moseying around. He was up the ladder to the first level of city and running toward the sound in a matter of seconds. Christine and 'Nay followed at an only slightly slower pace.

Thus it was that they rushed into the scene of SG-13's disaster only a little less than three hours after it had happened.

"What the -" Jason said, too startled even to even finish the exclamation.

The patio was strewn with still-open containers of scientific equipment. Spent cartridge casings seemed to be scattered all over the floor, mingling with the silver dust that seemed to be coating everything. The rough mud-brick floor was torn up where bullets had plowed into it.

"NATO five point seven millimeter cartage. P-90." Ka'cha'nay said, stooping down to pick up one of the casings.

"Over here!" Christine yelled. Jason spun to see her kneeling beside the crumpled form of a man in SGC uniform."It's Colonel Sherwin." she said, recognizing the current leader of SG-13.

"Is he-" Jason asked, rushing over.

"His pulse is weak, but he's still alive." Christine responded, un-clipping her pack and rooting through it for the first aid kit.

"What happened to him?" Jason asked.

"Gould use ribbon device to make him bonk wall." Ka'cha'nay put in.

Christine located the first aid kit and pulled out of her pack, quickly locating the medical scanner- an experimental device, created with a combination of human and Goa'ould healing device technology. While it lacked the power to heal anyone, the scanners could be used to quickly get an good picture of someone's injuries. Unfortunately, they were still an experimental design, and still had many bugs that needed to be worked out.

"How bad is he?" Jason asked.

"I'm not sure." she replied, staring at the little 'Scanning. Please wait.' bar as it crept across the screen. The machine took it's own antagonizing time about finishing the scan, then another two seconds to process the information before coming up with it's report.

"It says he has a concussion, broken bones, and a lot of other injuries." Christine finally reported. "But these machines aren't completely accurate, so I really can't be sure."

She dug through the medical kit again. "I'll risk giving him some morphine, but he needs a proper medical team with a stretcher to get him back to the 'gate." She said, pulling out a small syringe and twisting the cap off the needle.

Jason looked down at his watch. "Alright, I'm going to head down to the 'gate and get a medical team."

"I come with you." Ka'cha'nay offered.

"No, you stick around here. See if you can find out anything about what happened to them." Jason ordered, spinning and heading back toward the stargate.

***************************************************************

Jason strode as quickly as he could across the fields, moving at an almost-run. He knew that he had run longer distances in basic training, but two miles across rocky, treacherous terrain and unstable bridges seemed a lot longer than the five miles to the rifle range and back. Also, the two months stuck behind a desk before he was transferred to SG-20 hadn't done anything good for his physical condition.

Then he heard something.

Somewhere behind him, a deep throbbing sound began, rising in volume until it overcame almost every other sound.

Jason had only been aboard a starship twice, but he recognized the sound instantly- that of a starship's sub-light engine. He looked back just in time to see it rise out of the trees a few hundred yards away.

It clearly wasn't a Goa'ould ship- it lacked the pyramidal, archaic lines that that race so loved to use in their starships. Instead, this ship was a sleek, graceful machine with needle-like main hull, from which two short wings smoothly extended. The sleek lines spoke of a purpose-built battleship, a vessel built to destroy.

Slowly, gracefully, it spun to face the village - and opened fire.

Pulse after pulse of cannon fire spat from the ship's nose, battering the cliff-face. The drawbridge took a direct hit and fell, flaming, into the chasm, pulling its supports in after it. Fires leaped up around the city, burning fiercely.

Seemingly finished with the village, the ship spun to face toward the stargate, angling slightly forward to point straight at Jason.

He dove for cover just as the ship's cannons opened fire. Brilliant red energy sliced through the air, straight toward the unfortunate Marine.

* * *

Author's note: Yep, another cliffhanger. The more reviews I receive, the sooner the next chapter will be posted!

Also, I would like to note that the farming method I described the natives using was used by the woodlands Indians, not the Navaho. However, I figured they would adapt to the wetter environment of the planet by adopting different farming methods.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: I've been trying to get this chapter finished for a while, but it didn't seem to want to come together. On top of that, my brother just got a subscription to The Lord of the Rings Online:The Mines of Moria, so I have been wasting a lot of my free time on that. Throw in college final projects, and you get one author with very little time or energy for writing fanfiction!

However, I am continuing to work on this story, abet somewhat slowly. Things should pick up after the end of the semester, when I will have more time to spend on writing.

**SG-20**

**Episode 1: Chapter 3**

"**Flash Drive"**

* * *

Christine Ralston wasn't normally a person who worried easily. However, she was definitely worrying now.

She had checked the medical scanner again twice, but it only confirmed its original statement - the unfortunate Colonel Mike Sherwin was definitely fading fast. She feared he wouldn't last long enough for the medical team to arrive.

"What that!?" Ka'cha'nay suddenly announced, snapping up from his examination of the floor.

A deep throbbing sound erupted from somewhere in the forest, growing louder. Christine rushed to the edge of the balcony just in time to see the alien ship rise out of the forest, brushing aside the branches that had hidden it, slowly rising and spinning to face the city.

A pronounced clicking noise broke through her thoughts. She looked over to see that Ka'cha'nay had opened the cylinder of his M32 grenade launcher and was slamming a new round into the top chamber with practiced speed.

"Anti-tank HEAT round. Go through armor." He explained, flipping the cylinder closed and taking aim.

The ship spun to face then, weapons glowing.

It opened fire, pounding the far side of the city with bolt after bolt of plasma. The bridge fell with a crash loud enough to be heard from where they were hiding behind the low brick railing of the patio. Fires leapt up all around the city, burning with an unnatural furry. Clouds of thick, choking smoke rolled over the area, making Christine cough.

"What burning? This place made of brick!" Ka'cha'nay asked

"I think it's the straw they used to reinforce the bricks!" she coughed back. "This silver dust must be some sort of accelerator!"

Only seconds after the barrage ended, a pillar of light appeared almost directly beside them, lighting up the smoke. A series of silver rings appeared out of the ground, encircling the light.

"Ring platform!" Christine yelled, jumping up and bringing her P-90 clumsy to her shoulder.

The light vanished, and the rings disappeared back into the ground, leaving four people standing there. Two were dressed in white metal armor and helmets, and carrying strange-looking staff weapons. The other two Ka'cha'nay instantly recognized as former members of SG-13 - Daniel Wayland and Megan Though they still wore their SG uniforms, they too carried the strange staff-like weapons.

Ka'cha'nay whipped his grenade launcher at the new arrivals, who had already spread out, pointing their weapons at the startled members of SG-20. He considered opening fire, but quickly dismissed the thought. At this short range, a grenade would likely kill everyone on the patio.

"You will come with us." All four stated in unison.

"No." Ka'cha'nay stated. Christine looked scared, but kept her P-90 aimed at the two remaining members of SG-13. They stared back, faces blank of any emotion. Quietly, she switched her finger away from the trigger as her other hand slid up to the small button on the front of the forward handle.

"Now!" he yelled, throwing the grenade launcher at the two armor-clad humans. Startled, they fired hastily, their shots plowing into the wall as the Unas rushed at them, fighting knife already in hand.

Christine fired her P-90. A glowing blue bolt of energy erupted from beneath the barrel, stunning Daniel Wayland before he could react. She whipped the weapon around, but Megan knocked it out of her hands before she could fire the under-barrel 'Zat'nicke'tel again. The two went down in a heap, clawing and kicking, but neither able to land an effective blow.

Both heard the rings power up again, but neither was able to do anything about it.

Ka'cha'nay never heard or saw the enemy behind him- an energy blast struck him in the back, and he dropped, out like a light.

Christine froze when she felt the cold metal point of a weapon press into the back of her neck.

There was a pause.

"Get up." a woman's voice stated. It was a rough, poorly-articulated voice, as though it's owner wasn't used to speaking aloud.

She slowly got to her feet, releasing her hold on the drag handle of Megan's combat vest. Megan got to her own feet and relieved Christine of her handgun and combat knife.

"Into the ring device." the voice ordered. Slowly, Christine complied. The rings lit up, whisking her away.

* * *

When the light faded, she found herself inside a narrow, metal-walled room. One wall curved slightly along its length, and had heavy beams spaced along its length. She quickly guessed that they were now aboard the starship.

Any hope of escaping was cut instantly short as she realized that two burly humans in metal armor were standing on either side of the platform, staff weapons leveled at her head.

"Look, I just gave up! Don't go and shoot me anyway!"Christine snapped.

The guards said nothing, but quickly and roughly handcuffed her to one of the beams.

The ring device came on again, and she was pleased and worried at the same time to see two of the guards come through supporting the unconscious Ka'cha'nay. The Unas was similarly handcuffed to a support, although the guards took the precaution of chaining his feet to the beam as well.

The ring device came on again, and this time the two members of SG-13 and a strange woman came through as well. Christine instantly got the idea that the woman was the commander of this group- an air of vicious determination hung about her like a cloud.

"Who are you and what brings you here?" the woman demanded.

"I'm Christine Ralston, civilian scientist employed by Stargate Command, and that's all I'm telling you."

The strange woman stepped forward, her purple eyes focused on Christine with a look that could have bored through a metal beam by sheer force of will.

"Ah, yes. The Stargate Command. Those two," She indicated the surviving members of SG-13 "Thought quite a lot about it. Sadly, they've forgotten a great deal of what they once knew by now."

"Forgotten?"

"Of course. Their minds needed to make space for my memories."

"WHAT? "

"Well where else would store extra memories? A data crystal?" the alien asked.

"You mean you just downloaded your memories into their minds? Like they were some sort of flash drive or something?"

The alien looked puzzled, but said nothing. Instead, she turned to two former SG personnel behind her. A few seconds later, she turned back around. "Well, yes, kind of like your crude 'Flash memory sticks' 'USB drives' or whatever you call them. Only these are much more useful."

"You're sickening." Christine stated.

The alien's reaction was immediate. She raised one tattooed arm, and an energy wave burst forth from the leaf design on her palm, slamming into the unfortunate Christine. Her head hit the support behind her, and everything went black.

* * *

Jason hit the damp ground hard as energy fire rained around him. All about him, the ship's plasma blasts plowed into soft ground, setting the few plants into a smoldering blaze. He was glad now that it had attacked when it did- a series of blast turned the forest ahead of him into a raging inferno.

_Half a minute more, and I would have been in the middle of that._ He thought, glad they decided to open fire while he was still standing in the potato field.

Then, suddenly, the barrage stopped.

The massive ship seemed to hang in space, as though unable to decide what to do next. I stayed there for nearly a minute, then turned and dived toward the stargate.

However, as it dived, the entire ship seemed to shrink. When it was attacking the city, he was sure starship was at least the size of an Al'kesh bomber. However, as it passed only a few yards above his head, it seemed to be no bigger than a large remote-control airplane. It dived carelessly into the fire, energy shields flickering around it as they deflected the flames.

Then something strange happened. A huge limb fell from one of the flaming trees, crashing into the tiny spaceship. However, as the limb approached the spacecraft, the middle of the limb shrunk rapidly until it was the size of a twig. The limb snapped as it contacted the shields, sliding away. As the two pieces fell away, they seemed to grow rapidly until they had resumed their true size.

He was so shocked that he almost forgot to keep an eye on the ship. He glanced back up in time to see it disappear through a curtain of flame.

Seconds later, a series of sharp clunks followed by a pronounced roar, like that of a jet engine starting up, announced the activation of the stargate. The noise of the engines cut out abruptly, announcing the ship's departure, followed by another kerwhoosh as the stargate deactivated.

Well, that was weird. Jason thought to himself as he reached for his radio to check on the other two team members. _Most aliens at least say "Hi" or "Cree" or something before they start …_

His hand froze when he saw the city. The few small fires had grown quite rapidly until the entire city was engulfed in flame, consuming brick, timber and stone. A pillar of black smoke rose into the air

From where he stood, almost a mile away, Jason could feel the heat radiating out from this inferno.

For an uncounted time, he stood frozen, watching the flames that he was sure had just consumed three of his colleagues and good friends. Then some sort of demolition charge went off on the hillside above, sending several thousand tons of rock cascading down onto the city, extinguishing the flames and burring anything left of the mighty civilization that once dwelt there under tons of rubble.

Slowly, mournfully, he rolled up his sleeve and reached for the GDO/Remote Dialer Device strapped to his wrist. He'd need to report in, and get the general to send in a firefighting team, as well as a search-and-rescue...no, that wouldn't be possible for anyone, even the ingenious Ka'cha'nay, to have survived that inferno. They'd need a forensics team, though, to excavate some of the city and find out as much as they could about this new alien threat.

Hitting the final symbol on the tiny touch-screen, he raised his radio and began the type of report no one ever wants to make.

"General, This is Major Jason Terrell. We were just ambushed by an unknown alien ship. I have to report both Christine Ralston and Ka'cha'nay MIA, believed KIA."

* * *

Author's Note: Yep, yet another CLE (Cliffhanger-Like Ending).We will be seeing a steady increase in the amount of canton characters included in the next two chapters. I plan on including most of SG-1 in the epilogue.

For those of you who are curious- a drag handle on a combat vest is a heavy cloth handle sewn into the back of the vest, used for dragging injured solders out of the line of fire, hence the name.

Once again, your reviews are very much appreciated, even if they're just a short "Nice story, I liked it" or something like that.

Replies to those who don't have accounts on this site:

Andy: Thanks for your kind review. "OC" means "Original Character" (that is, a character created by the fan author, not the show's producers.) Don't feel bad about not knowing it. I know that this term had me somewhat mystified when I first started reading fanfiction.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: It took me a lot longer to get this chapter written than I had hoped. However, my muse finally wandered back, and here it is. The next two chapters should more than make up for it, however. There's still about two more chapters left to post and then I will start posting Episode Two- "_The Erklong_".

**SG-20**

**Episode 1**

"**Flash Drive"**

* * *

Ka'cha'nay slowly awoke. At first, all he was aware of was the dull pounding in his head, then that his whole body felt like his feet did when he sat down for too long.

"...at'nic'atel..."

Then he realized that he was leaning against a large metal beam. He tried to move, and found that he was chained to the beam.

Then the memory of the failed rescue mission came back to him. Carefully, he opened one eye and scanned the area. The room was empty, save for Christine, who was similarly chained to another support. The far wall of the room contained a ring platform, but no other signs of technology. No crests or symbols adorned the bare metal walls of the room.

Seeing that they were alone, he set to work on escaping his bindings.

Christine awoke a few minutes later to horrible grinding sound of metal scraping against metal.

"Where are we?" she asked, still half-awake.

"On alien ship, me thinks."

"Oh."

"And me not think they take many prisoners."

"Why?"

"Them stupid. Not check back pockets."

"How does that help us?"

"Keep lot of junk in back pockets."

She instantly put two and two together. "That junk wouldn't happen to include a..."

Her question was answered when Ka'cha'nay held up his now-freed hands, one of which contained a metal file.

"Mill-cut triangle file. Much useful." he stated, bending down and setting to work on freeing his feet.

It was obvious that these aliens had either never heard of a file, or never expected one of their prisoners to try to escape, because he had his feet freed in a matter of seconds.

* * *

They were moving toward the door when the strangest thing happened- the entire side wall dissolved into the artificial wave pattern of an open wormhole, moving rapidly across the ship. Christine had just enough time to yell a startled warning before the event horizon swept over them.

Seconds later, the strange blur of the wormhole cleared, leaving them standing again on the deck of the alien ship, looking around them in confusion.

"What was THAT?!" Christine demanded.

"Me thinks that that was the stargate" Ka'cha'nay stated.

" 'Nay, from what we saw, it has to almost two hundred feet long, and at least fifty feet across the main hull. There was no _way_ it could have fit through a gate unless..." she paused, realizing the significance of what she was saying, "...they have a supergate."

"Don't supper-gates usually lead to other galaxies?" Ka'cha'nay asked.

"It's super, not supper, and they usually do."

They paused a second. Finally, 'Nay spoke.

"We'd better get moving."

They moved forward quietly. For some reason, the room's door hadn't been locked, and it _whooshed _noisy open as they approached. They had barely entered the hallway when the Unas suddenly held up his hand, then pointed to a small box mounted on the wall.

"Wait!" he whispered.

"What?"

"Weapons locker." he stated. "You open?"

Christine turned her attention to the small weapons locker. It was consisted of a metal cabinet about two feet high, mounted into the wall. Closer inspection revealed a hand print-shaped sensor on the the wall beside it.

"I can't open it. It's got a biometric locking device."

Ka'cha'nay studied it for a second, and then announced "I can."

"How? That's the same type of lock they-"

He seized hold of the handle and pulled. The metal cover made a few horrible crunching noises and gave way completely, falling off its hinges, revealing an array of the rod-like weapons the lead alien had carried on the planet. He grabbed one, and instantly an alarm echoed through the ship.

"Oops." he stated, tossing the weapon to Christine and grabbing one for himself.

"We'd better get out of here before the guards-"

"You will drop the weapons and surrender." Two voices announced from behind them.

Christine's weapon instantly fell from her startled hand as they both spun to face the two armor-clad figures facing them, staff weapons pointed directly at their heads.

"You are our prisoners. You can not escape." they stated. "You-"

"Um-seems like we just did." Christine said nervously.

"Anyone who escapes must be destroyed."

Maybe it was just the energy granted by extreme panic, or maybe it was the kind of detachment one feels when one has an charged plasma weapon aimed at one's forehead from two inches away, but Christine suddenly noticed that Ka'cha'nay hadn't dropped his captured weapon. It was still clutched in one reptilian hand, his thumb idly and subtly jabbing at what was probably the control pad.

With a sudden burst of energy, she seized the weapon out of 'Nay's hand, spun it around, and jabbed it toward one of the solders. The weapon didn't fire, but the tip hit him in the eye, so the effect was the same. He took one hand off his weapon to knock the offending object away from his eye.

Which was all the time Ka'cha'nay needed to duck under the point of the other solder's weapon and give him a old-fashioned right hook to the jaw. The solder went down, out like a light. 'Nay spun in time to knock some sort of energy handgun out of the other solder's grasp the same instant he fired it at Christine.

It seemed to be an awful half-second between the bolt left the weapon and when it hit. Christine screeched something illegible as it hit her with a flash of light.

A flash that blossomed and spread, highlighting a wall of energy that seemed to have appeared across the corridor.

The screech faded the instant she realized that she wasn't about to be hit by a plasma round, and seconds later, the energy screen faded as well, vanishing back into the alien weapon still grasped in her trembling hand.

'Nay took advantage of the remaining solder's stunned immobility to land another blow, knocking him out cold.

"What was that?" Christine gasped.

"Weapon produced an energy shield. Protected you."

"It must have some sort of neural interface." Christine said, examining it closely. "I must have accidentally activated it when I panicked."

"Can you make it work again?" 'Nay asked, picking up both of the solder's energy pistols.

"I'll try, but it's probably keyed to these alien's own unique physiology." she stated.

She pointed it at the wall and concentrated hard. Nothing happened. Even though she swished it about in quite a dramatic fashion, nearly hitting herself several times and actually hitting Ka'cha'nay several more, the weapon remained inert.

"Us should get moving." he stated, handing her one of the pistols. She jammed the rod into her belt before accepting the alien handgun.

"I agree." she said, then added "Any idea where the control room is?"

"No, but can't hurt to hunt for it." he stated.

As it turned out, the ship's rather spacious control room was just at the end of the hallway. It was a large room, clearly taking up a good deal of the front of the ship, with two tiers of consoles arranged in a smooth arc facing the large monitor that was currently displaying the space outside. They looked around at the apparently abandoned controls in surprise.

"Ah. So the two strangers have got out of their little predicament." the alien woman stated from somewhere behind them. Christine felt the point of a rod-weapon press into her neck.

* * *

Author's Note: Well, what do you think of it? Wonderful? Horrible? Leave a review and let me know! (all reviews are appreciated, even if they are just "nice story" or something like that. Critical reviews are extremely appreciated because they help me become a better author.)


	5. Chapter 5

Author's Note:I finally finished this chapter. I would have finished it earlier, but my 'Introduction to the Novel' course decided to do possibly one of the most horrible books ever written, and my muse made a 'tactical retreat' for two weeks. Anyway, it finally came back, and here is the next chapter. Enjoy!

**SG-20**

**Episode 1**

"**Flash Drive"**

_

* * *

_

_As it turned out, the ship's rather spacious control room was just at the end of the hallway. It was a large room, clearly taking up a good deal of the front of the ship, with two tiers of consoles arranged in a smooth arc facing the large monitor that was currently displaying the space outside. They looked around at the apparently abandoned controls in surprise._

"_Ah. So the two strangers have got out of their little predicament." an alien voice announced. Christine felt the point of a rod-weapon press into her neck. _

"Hello." she stated, releasing her grip on the energy pistol. It clattered nosily to the floor as she turned around.

The alien woman, both remaining members of SG-13, and two of the armor-clad humans stood behind them, all weapons leveled.

"The reptile should drop his weapon as well, unless he has an extreme death-wish." the alien stated. Ka'cha'nay's weapon clattered to the floor alongside Christine's as he, too, turned to face their foe.

"Did you seriously think that I wouldn't notice that you had disabled two parts if myself?" the alien questioned. "And what's this? You stole one of our specialized weapons? You probably assumed you could use it." The alien grabbed the weapon out of Christine's belt. "Unfortunately-"

Some instinct, or perhaps a deeply-buried courage, seemed to take control of Christine's actions for the second time that day. She grabbed onto the weapon's handle, prepared to wrest it away.

She never needed to. The instant her hand touched the handle, the weapon released a burst of greenish energy that caught the alien directly in the midsection. All five of their opponents doubled over in extreme pain.

"So that ... explains it. You're..." the alien woman gasped. "...one...of..." But she never gathered enough strength to finish the sentience. Mortally injured, she collapsed and died.

Her former servants, no longer trapped in her control, collapsed in shock.

"I think they're all right. Probably just stunned." Christine stated, kneeling down to check their pulse.

"If them all right, should we worry about who flying the ship?"

"Alright, 'Nay, you keep an eye on them. I'll see if I can figure out how to pilot this thing." Christine stated, carefully stepping up to the main control panel, and hitting a few buttons.

They must have been the wrong ones.

The starship heeled over, suddenly rolling end for end. The darkening sky in the view screen were replaced by the view of a planet's surface, approaching rapidly.

"Wrong controls!" Ka'cha'nay yelled.

"I'm trying!" she yelled back, hitting a few more buttons,then threw some sort of lever she hoped was the forward thrusters.

The ship jerked, yawed violently, then came to a screeching halt.

"Maybe we should find instruction manual." Ka'cha'nay stated.

Christine stared at the control board for a second, either trying to familiarize herself with the controls, or trying to catch her breath.

"I don't know why I didn't notice this before!" she suddenly stated. "This script-" she pointed to a label above a row of gauges "it's Ancient Greek, or something very close to it."

"You read it?"

"Yep." she stated, absentmindedly, muttering something about Greek verbs and reaction-control thrusters under her breath. After a moment's pause, she slowly slid two levers downward, then hit another control. Very gently, the ship slid forward, slowly heading higher into the planet's atmosphere.

"I found DHD!" Ka'cha'nay announced, pointing to one of the secondary consoles, where an array of buttons marked with various chevrons. "That odd. These Milky Way symbols." he announced, getting up to inspect it closer.

"That's impossible. Every super-gate we've encountered is designed to dial a eight-symbol addresses."

"These still the Milky Way..."

The ship came to a sudden and violent halt, throwing everyone forward.

"What that?"Ka'cha'nay demanded.

"I didn't hit anything." Christine stated.

"But I did." a voice announced from behind them. They spun.

Megan, one of the former members of SG-13, stood behind them, staff weapon armed and leveled.

"You killed me." she stated. "but the Dryad do not die. The memories linger. The humans...the humans must die!"

The staff weapon clicked, and Christine had just enough time to dive out of the way before a plasma blast struck the console directly behind where she had been standing. The console exploded in a shower of sparks. 'Nay had already ducked out of the way, and was returning fire with his captured energy pistol.

Megan, or whatever she now was, retreated, stopping long enough to blast the secondary console she had been standing next to into a smoking ruin. Them the doors whooshed closed behind her, and they heard the weapon fire again. The doors glowed and a wisp of smoke appeared as the plasma welded the metal together.

"What she damage?" Ka'cha'nay asked.

"All the main controls are gone, and she blasted something called 'super-drive controls' or something like..." Christine's face went white, and she rushed around frantic, hitting a few dozen buttons before she found the switch for the internal scanners.

"What?"

"I think she just set the hyperdrive to overload."

"Can you switch off?"

"She's completely destroyed the controls. All I could do is plug crystals together and hope-"

"Me thinks we have another problem." Ka'cha'nay stated, pointing at the floor.

The vine tattoo encircling the dead alien's neck had begun to flash red with rapidly increasing speed.

"Is that what I think it is?"

"Personal Self-Destruct. Keep enemies from learning about their species and technology, like Wrath used to do." Ka'cha'nay stated, grabbing the drag handle of Charles's combat vest and dragging him to safety behind a console.

Christine went to grab the armor-clad human, but 'Nay grabbed her leg and pulled her behind the console just as the light went completely red. A strange muffled beep sounded.

Half a second later, a tremendous explosion echoed through the ship.

Carefully, they sat up to survey the damage. By some fortunate chance, the ship's outer hull, though badly dented by the explosion, had not been punctured. However, the same could not be said for the rest of the room. The control consoles were wreaked, bent, and thrown about. The door had been blown completely out of the wall, along with a good bit of the wall.

The console they had hidden behind was no different. The entire control surface had been blown away, showering the area in fragments of crystal.

"Come." Ka'cha'nay stated. Christine looked up from staring at a fragmented control crystal in complete shock.

"Where?"

"Escape pods. Whoever that was acted like she was trying to get away, so she must have some way off the ship."

"Good thinking."she stated, getting up. They headed for the now-absent door, 'Nay supporting the unconscious Charles.

It wasn't that hard to identify which room contained the escape pods. No sooner had they entered the hallway than a tremendous thundering roar came from one of the starboard compartments, announcing the launch of some sort of emergency escape pod.

They stumbled through the door to gaze upon a disappointing sight- four Goa'ould-style escape pods, each with a large hole blasted through it's critical components.

"Great." Christine stated.

"Ring transporter?"

"It wouldn't work. Even if we're in range of the surface, the exterior rings would still conserve our momentum."

"So?"

"We'd be moving at the same speed as the ship when we landed."

"Ouch. Maybe there a ring transporter on surface?"

"Can't hurt to try."

The ring room was just as they left it. Christine rapidly located the ring controls under a small sliding panel on the wall. However, a few button-presses revealed that their suspicions were true- no other platform existed on the planet below.

"We in trouble." Ka'cha'nay stated.

"Maybe not. You remember the reports from nine years ago, when the Ori tried to build their first supergate?"

"Middle of Ori crisis. Vala smashed Tel'tack to stop it fitting together. Her got pulled through a black hole trying to escape, ended up in Ori galaxy."

"She was using a ring transporter to escape, right?"

"Yes."

"And the black hole was caused by a gravity field projected through a stargate, right?"

"Yes."

"'Nay, do you still have your GDO?"

'Nay rolled up his sleeve, revealing the small Asgard device.

"And SGC put ring device in gate-room last year." he stated, catching on. "But how we get ring beam to go through gate?"

"I don't think we'll need to. I think we should just be able to lock onto their platform and beam normally."

"Will work?"

"Let's see if we can dial the SGC first."

Ka'cha'nay quickly punched up the dialing program, and entered the symbols for Earth. To his great surprise, seconds after hitting the seventh symbol, the buttons on the tiny screen turned green, marking a successful connection

"Problem." he stated, entering the IDC code.

"What?"

"Time slow, so Stargate far away. IDC maybe mess up, not open Iris."

"I don't think the Iris will stop the matter stream."

"Not worry about that. Worry about them shoot at us."

"This ship is probably going to explode in the next few minutes, and even if it doesn't, it'll burn up from an uncontrolled decent into the atmosphere."

'Nay said nothing, but moved as quickly as he could to the center of the ring platform, still supporting the unconscious Charles.

Christine carefully hit the first two buttons of the ring sequence, and was about to press the third when an awful realization came over her.

"Someone's going to have to stay behind and run the controls."

"No" 'Nay said. "You get on platform, too."

"But someone's going to have to press the last button, and we can't press it from the-"

"No need press button." 'Nay stated, spinning his captured handgun carefully, as though testing the balance.

She grinned and stepped up onto the ring platform, and 'Nay took careful aim before throwing his weapon at the console. However, his aim was slightly off and it clattered against the wall.

"Not hit." he stated.

Christine handed over her weapon, and he once again took careful aim before hurtling it at the console. This time, however, the grip thudded against the correct button.

The last thing they heard before the beam consumed them was the dreadful whine of the ship's hyperdrive overloading.

* * *

Author's note: Well, what did you think? Leave a review and let me know!


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: Well, the lack of reviews for the last chapter made my muse extremely sad. However, I still managed to finish the last chapter- making this my first completed normal-format story!

I'll be posting Episode 2 "**The Erlkonig**" in a few days. Since it takes place almost entirely on Atlantis, I decided to post it under Stargate: Atlantis instead of SG-1.

**SG-20**

**Episode 1**

"**Flash Drive"**

* * *

Jason exited the stargate in a state of disbelief. His first command, his first team, lost. Two good people were dead because he hadn't recognized an ambush for what it was.

"Anything to report yet, Major?" General Laundry asked over the control room loudspeaker.

"They've been at it for almost a day now. Still no sign of any useful information." he responded.

Suddenly, the Stargate began to dial in. All around the room, the red emergency lights came on as the ear-piercing "Unscheduled off-world activation" alarm began.

All around the room, Marines jumped to attention, raising weapons, throwing the safeties off, and dropping into their fighting stances. The blast doors at the entrances slammed closed. The twin automated defense turrets, which had replaced the machine guns some time ago, swung around, their weapons arming as their controllers on the surface assumed their consoles.

"Sir!" Walter reported "we're getting some sort of radio signal! It might be an IDC!"

"What do you mean, 'might be'?"

"It's extremely weak. It's being sent from quite some distance."

"Can you identify it?"

"The computer's trying, but it's badly attenuated."

"Keep the Iris closed until the computer identifies it." the general ordered, making

However, everyone was startled when a beam of light shot out of the stargate, sweeping the area before landing on the newly-installed Ring Transporter in front of the ramp.

"What's that?" Jason demanded as everyone turned to focus on the ring platform.

"I think someone's trying to ring through the gate." Walter yelled into the microphone.

The gateroom guards spun to face this incoming threat. The automated turrets armed their anti-tank rockets, prepared to vaporize the entire area.

A bright flash passed down the beam, and the platform activated. A series of rings rose into the air, leaving off an incredible light as whatever was inside them was re-assembled.

To everyone's great amazement, what appeared was not a strange alien bent on their destruction, but the missing members of SG-20, supporting another man in SGC uniform.

* * *

The debriefing turned out to be one of the most interesting meetings Jason had ever attended. Daniel Jackson had decided to sit in on the meeting, but he got very excited about halfway through and rushed off to look something up. This was unfortunate, as it brought him out the door at the same time Samantha Carter was entering it, carrying one of the team's GDO devices.

The two collided with a tremendous crunch, and Daniel was rushed off to the infirmary with a damaged nose and several apologies from Sam.

After he left, she finally got around to what had brought her to the briefing room in the first place.

"Well, as you all know, when we created the Mark 2 GDO, we added a few features."

"Like the remote dialer?" Jason put in.

"Well, there were a lot more improvements than that, but one of the major ones was adding a dialing detection circuit tied into a memory chip."

"I already know about it," Christine stated "I helped design the device, remember?"

"I remembered that. But what I thought was interesting was this."

Carter pulled a chip out of the GDO she had been carrying and slid it into the appropriate slot on the base computer. Two sets of symbols appeared on the monitor.

"Those from the planet Dryad aliens transport us to."

"I went to mark these in the database as being potentially off-limits, and I found something interesting. These are the symbols for Vorash."

"That not possible." Ka'cha'nay put in. "You blow up Vorash stargate and sun fourteen years ago."

"I thought the same thing, so I had the computer do a few calculations."

Sam hit a few buttons on the computer, and a 3-D map of part of the galaxy appeared, with a flashing dot marking a particular planet.

"Vorash was in the middle of what we call the Virgo Stellar Stream- it's the remains of a dwarf galaxy colliding with the Milky Way- and some of the 'leftover' stars there are moving at a good clip compared to the Milky way stars."

"And one of these fast-moving stars had a stargate on it, and got close enough to use Vorash's old address?" Jason asked.

"That's what I'm thinking now, so I did a few simulations to calculate what planet it originally was."

She hit a button, and the stars on the screen scrambled around as the camera zoomed out. When they finally paused again, the star in question was far above the plane of the galaxy, organized with a few hundred other stars into a small galaxy of their own."

"When the stargate on that planet was built, it would have needed an eight-symbol address to dial, particularly, this address."

A sequence of eight symbols replaced the stars on screen.

"Here's the weird thing- I've encountered this address before. Every milky way DHD has, built into it's source code, the order to never dial any address that uses this seventh chevron."

"So the ancients didn't want anyone going there, at least not accidentally. Why?" The general put in.

"Because the Dryads lived there," Daniel added in a strange voice, walking through the door with a large bandage on his nose and carrying an extremely large book under his arm.

"One of the SG personnel they...affected...mentioned Dryads." Christine stated.

"Well, from what I gather, the Ancients went to that galaxy and began exploring before they encountered a race 'of great mental power' who forced them to abandon that galaxy. Before they left, they sabotaged it's stargates." he finished.

"So this race was trapped without star gates for ten thousand years?" Laundry put in

"Unfortunately, I don't think they're trapped any more. When they connected to the Vorash address, it would have triggered a system-wide update – we have to assume their stargates are perfectly active."

"That's not the worrisome part. According to this," he laid his book on the table and flipped it open "these 'Dryads' were a race already well into the stage where they could Ascend."

"I'm no expert on this, but it isn't usually 'ascend or die'? If they were advanced enough ten thousand years ago, shouldn't they be extinct now? " Jason added.

"That's the disturbing part. According to whoever wrote this," Daniel stated, flipping a few pages before reading aloud "these Dryad were most viscous, taking any creature of sufficient mental capacity, be it human or Alteran, enslaving them with their powerful telepathy..." he flipped the page" and taking that creature's mind for their own, in such way avoiding both Death and Accention by becoming many instead of one, for their thoughts were within their slaves as well..." he flipped a few more pages and

continued "for such slaves, the only recourse was Death, for once taken, their minds belong to the Dryad that took them, and it's mind remains within them as long as they live."

Jason summed up what they were all thinking. "That's disgusting."

"Not as disgusting as listening to a Dryad running on about it." Christine stated.

"The point here is, are this species going to prove a threat?" Laundry said.

"Yes." 'Nay stated "What we do kick bee nest good."

"I think he means 'kicked up a hornet's nest' sir." Christine said, translating. "And I agree with him. From what I saw, their tech is almost as advanced as the Asgard. They won't be any weak foe."

"Well, we're going to have to try, won't we?" a voice stated from the doorway. Everyone jumped to see General Jack O'Neill leaning against the doorway.

"General!"

"Sir!"

"I just came over because Area 51 said their sensor thing just picked up a burst of hyperspace activity in the Virgo Stellar something-or-other." he stated. "I think you guys just found another big problem for this poor galaxy."

* * *

High above an unnamed planet of the former Virgo Dwarf Galaxy, twenty massive, gray-hulled starships arrayed themselves in a rough formation, awaiting orders.

The orders came.

Silently, hyperspace windows opened ahead of them, and they vanished into hyperspace, heading out into the galaxy.

Their long rest was over. A galaxy needed conquering.

* * *

Author's note: Well, what did everyone think of the first episode? Please review and let me know! (Critical reviews are extremely appreciated.)


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